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Ramsay Bolton actor Iwan Rheon almost got cast as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones

He was certainly the perfect choice to play the dastardly Ramsay Bolton, but few Game of Thrones fans will believe that Welsh actor Iwan Rheon almost got cast as the show’s honourable hero, Jon Snow.

Revealing to Deadlinethat Rheon – whose character recently faced off with Kit Harington’s Jon Snow in the epic “Battle of the Bastards” – actually auditioned for the part of Snow for the show’s original pilot episode, Game of Thrones co-showrunner Dan Weiss said:

“We first saw him when he auditioned for Jon Snow. He was incredible and went down to the very end, in terms of our pick for Jon Snow. He’s an incredibly versatile actor. It was so much fun to write for him because he’s such a charismatic kid and he’s got such intelligence and a sense humour.

“He never just played Ramsay like the snarling villain”, Weiss continued. “He put a little spin on every line and so it was great to write for him and to watch him perform, and especially in his last couple of episodes. That last scene with Ramsay and Sophie [Turner]’s Sansa probably goes down as one of our favourites. To watch the two of them alone, with the dogs… He could very well have been a boring character, because he’s so evil and beyond redemption. And Iwan kept him interesting the whole way”.

At least in Rheon missing out on the role of Snow, we fans got the benefit of getting to know and love Kit Harington, and getting to love to hate such a well played villain in Ramsay Bolton.